President's Letter

By Michele Worden, AEMG

Walking the dog in the autumn gloom, it seems like the leaves are glowing.  There is the unmistakable damp, earthy smell of change. Fall is a time of transition.  We feel sad at summers passing, but look forward to what the next season will bring.

Fittingly, we had the MGANM election for our new board in November at our annual meeting and dinner.  Association members voted to approve a slate of directors and officers. We need fresh faces to continue to be impactful, so we welcome new friends and say “au revoir” to old ones. Being a Master Gardener is all about creating positive impact for the community through our volunteer work.

As a board, we need to be mindful of our impact too.  To that end, we have continued to strive to reduce paperwork in the administration of the Association, because shuffling paperwork is not the most impactful use of our time.  One area that still has a heavy paperwork load is processing renewals and luncheon payments for the volunteer recognition luncheon/dinner.

I know that our Treasurer would prefer to measure her community impact by the hours she spends in a master gardener community garden project, rather than the hours she spends entering checks into Quickbooks, and standing in line at the bank to deposit them.  This work is streamlined and reduced by electronic online payments. Please help Glynis get back in the garden by registering and paying online!

Don't forget that you can earn volunteer hours in the winter by contributing to The Real Dirt. Your time to research and write articles is a good way to spend time during those snow days.

Thank you for all you do!